The invention relates generally to power-driven conveyors and more particularly to the conveyance of articles containing an electrically-conductive material.
Conveyors are often used to transport articles through a manufacturing process. In some circumstances, the transportation of aluminum beverage cans through a can manufacturing process can be difficult in transition points, where the cans need to be transferred from one process step to the next. The lightweight cans are fragile and may be prone to tipping, which makes them susceptible to stranding on transfer dead plates. Such problems require manual intervention by operators, which can increase cost and risk potential contamination. In addition, the stranding of cans on the process line can result in costly mixing of can batches if all stranded cans are not removed from the process line.